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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27869045">Break-Up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MageWriter/pseuds/MageWriter'>MageWriter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Something Just Like This [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Minor Character Death, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, break-up, happy(?) ending, little angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:34:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,988</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27869045</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MageWriter/pseuds/MageWriter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Some heavy feelings as both Lena and Kara work out why the sundering of their friendship hurts them so much.<br/>Lex, of course, has his own schemes in order to further his plans.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Something Just Like This [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1509659</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Breaking up is a Painful Process</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Something Just Like This 10</p><p>I OWN NOTHING!!</p><p>Someone You Loved – Lewis Capaldi</p><p>Listen to Your Heart - D.H.T.<br/>To note, I really hope at this point everyone knows to ignore the way these are numbered. If anyone cares, they're numbered in order of when the idea occurred to me.</p><p>Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright</p><p>The Bones -  Maren Morris</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Why did it feel like a breakup</em>?</p><p>Lena curled tighter into herself as she sat on her couch. That thought kept bouncing around her mind whenever she thought of her.</p><p>It wasn’t as if they had been dating. They never called themselves anything other than <em>friends</em>.</p><p>Perhaps it was because Kara had given her the emotional things she had craved since she was four years old and traumatized not just from watching her mother drown but being shoved into an entirely new world with the Luthors.</p><p>She had started to become used to having friends. She had started to believe that love could just be given, that it was something that just <em>was</em>. She didn’t need to earn it. Love wasn’t a reward.</p><p>But how much of that was actually real?</p><p>Alex treating her like a little sister. Well, what Lena imagined a healthy sibling relationship would be like.</p><p>J’onn’s proud little smile when she had a solution to their current predicament (or she and the others had done something that in retrospect was insane, silly, and/or stupid but worked anyway).</p><p>Winn and Brainy geeking out with her. Alex allowing her into the labs at the DEO to work on something together.</p><p>Maggie calling her ‘Little Luthor’ with affection.</p><p>Eliza welcoming her to holiday meals as if Lena belonged there and not as an afterthought or a sense of pity.</p><p>All of it led back to Kara. To <em>Supergirl</em>. To the hurt that one secret and the lies that trailed from it throughout their friendship. The duplicity in how Kara had treated her in and out of the suit.</p><p>All of the things that made her question their intentions (which she had never really understood to begin with). It had to all have been just another, different method of the same kind of treatment she had received for as long as she could remember.</p><p>She was unlovable. She was good only for what others could get from her.</p><hr/><p>Kara huddled inside the oversized hoodie of Lena’s (well…it was oversized on Lena at least) that she had never gotten around to returning. She had her favorite picture of them clasped in her hand, gazing at it as she once again went over everything.</p><p>Why did this feel so much like a breakup?</p><p>They had never…Lena was so…friendship was all that Kara had ever felt she could ask for from the other woman.</p><p>The friendship she had ruined through her own selfishness. Her own need to have someone she loved to see her as <em>human</em> first.</p><p>That was just it, however.</p><p>She loved Lena in a way she never had anyone else. It put all of her previous relationships into perspective.</p><p>Or rather, what had been lacking in them.</p><p>Worse, her actions had severed Lena from the rest of their friend group. Because they had been complacent in keeping the truth from Lena.</p><p>Lena had <em>trusted</em> them, all of them, and they had let her down. They had proven Lena’s fears about herself to be true in the CEO’s mind.</p><p>Kara didn’t particularly care about the other circumstances going on at the time. None of them really mattered. Kara could not imagine a world where things would be worse for Lena knowing the truth (no matter what Myx had shown her).</p><p>She had taken it one step further. She had called Lena a <em>villain</em>. Not directly, but thinking back on what she had said and how she had said it, what other conclusions could be reached?</p><p>Yes, it had been an attempt to shock Lena off the path she was going down by working with Lex, but it was yet another lie.</p><p>If Lena was a villain…it was because Kara had made her one.</p><p>And that was probably her biggest sin of all: turning someone like Lena (kind, loving, generous, brilliant, adorable, beautiful, loyal Lena) into someone history would remember as just another Luthor.</p><p>Some Paragon of Hope she was.</p><hr/><p>Giving the half-empty bottle of scotch sitting on her coffee table a despondent look, Lena wondered when her life had devolved to this. Drowning out her sorrows and pain with expensive alcohol when not trying to undermine her megalomaniac brother.</p><p>When trying not to think about a certain blonde who had her shattered heart wrapped up in a red cape.</p><p>What was the point of any of this?</p><p>Lena supposed if she was going to be considered a villain now, just another Luthor, she might as well go the same way as her father. Then again, she wouldn’t put it past either Lex or Lillian to have somehow been responsible for Lionel’s death. It wasn’t that difficult to spike liquor with something that would mimic the effects of long term alcohol abuse that would already be present.</p><p>Huh…maybe she should test her bottles just in case.</p><p>If her family was going to kill her, she wanted it to be in person. They were so good at it after all. It wasn’t as if Kara was going to come in and save her anymore. The hero didn’t save the villain, they stopped them.</p><p>She scoffed to herself. Kara had just finally said what she had always thought, hadn’t she? Why else would a Super get close to a Luthor? They were all probably having a good laugh about it.</p><p>About how a stupid pair of glasses and a dumb ponytail was enough to fool a genius Luthor. How easily Lena had laughed off comments like <em>flew on a bus</em> and <em>just having coffee</em>.</p><p>It had all been so easy for them, hadn’t it?</p><p>None of the good times mattered if it had all been fake, and what else could it have been?</p><p>Lena stared down at her empty glass. When had she finished it?</p><p>She fumbled with the decanter, but it was empty as well.</p><p>Just like her.</p><p>She was empty and cold…so very cold.</p><p>Lena didn’t think she would ever be warm again. Not like she had been.</p><hr/><p>She was so tired. Kara didn’t think she had ever been this emotionally exhausted in this way. She hesitated to compare it to the loss of her people and planet, but it was close.</p><p>It all just kept coming. More loss continued to pile up.</p><p>Kara had to be strong right now. She had to be there for Alex and Eliza as they laid Jeremiah to rest.</p><p>In the aftermath, when Kelly had taken over in comforting Alex and Eliza had retreated to her room, Kara found herself on the roof.</p><p>There were so many memories here. Jeremiah and Alex watching the stars, later including Kara. The nights the pair had laid out to do the same or just to escape the house. Learning to carefully hover on and off, to catch Alex when she jumped, how to land.</p><p>She had often imagined bringing Lena here, make more memories with one of her favorite people.</p><p>The thought of her friend, who even with their current relationship status, had still cared enough to bring the book by in an effort to help.</p><p>It gave Kara a little bit of hope that all was not lost between them. There was a small chance they could rebuild their friendship.</p><p>In the small moments between everything else, Kara had begun to suspect that Lena was planning something to take down Lex and Leviathan just as she had taken down Lillian. Lena always played things close to her chest until she knew she had a plan that would not fail.</p><p>She had done the same with Sam. Kara still winched when she thought of the kryptonite even now. She knew she could have handled that better than she had.</p><p>It was astounding how much could be accomplished in self-berating when given the time to think and (over)analyze past actions. There were things she could have done differently or not done at all or even done with a little more thought before acting.</p><p>Kara, watching the stars glitter overhead, did know one thing for certain.</p><p>She regretted the hurt that her actions had caused, but she did not regret keeping her secret. It was hers! It protected not just herself, but all those around her. She was angry at Lena for not understanding that.</p><p>Yes, it was a little selfish, because there were times she could have shared even just a little bit of her secret with her best friend that might have mitigated some of the fallout. She had wanted to keep Lena to herself, despite also wanting everyone to know and understand the wonderful woman Lena was.</p><p>She was also angry at Lena for having the gall to think any of their friendship had ever been fake. How dare she? Kara would never do that to anyone. Kara had meant everything she had said. She would trust Lena, <em>in</em> Lena. She would always do her best to protect the other woman (who was more danger prone than Alex some days).</p><p>It was all just a great big messy tangle that didn’t seem capable of being unraveled.</p><p>Sighing, Kara took off her glasses and closed her eyes. She focused first on the three people inside the house. Eliza was asleep. Kelly was just barely awake, but Alex had finally succumbed to her tears and fallen into a fitful slumber. Slowly, she expanded her range while wading through the sounds of everything around her. Eventually, Kara located the sound she most wanted at this moment.</p><p>Faint, just on the edge of her hearing, was Lena’s heartbeat. It was slightly elevated, but not enough to cause concern. Lena was always stressed, more so now that there wasn’t anyone who would stop her. Kara would worry anyway but was respecting Lena’s need for space.</p><p>She refused to feel guilty about the past anymore, but she would still bend over backward for those close to her heart if they would just let her.</p><hr/><p>“Really sister dear, how many bottles does this make?” Lex’s smile was anything but kind.</p><p>Lena really, truly doubted if any of his smiles had ever been kind. She didn’t answer him. He already knew the answer. This was just one of his power plays.</p><p>“What do you want Lex?” She was tired. This project was never going to work, not the way she had originally envisioned it (which, taking a calmer look at it, was a good thing) and certainly not in the way that Lex wanted it.</p><p>He set the new bottle of scotch on the counter. Lena made a mental note to test it first (or most likely just throw it out) before drinking it.</p><p>“Can’t a brother check on his little sister Ace?”</p><p>“Only when you want something,” Lena responded. A part of her sunk at the acknowledgment that she had cut out anyone who would have checked on her for other reasons. Kara would have pulled her away hours ago, stuffed her with food, and they would have been at least halfway through a second movie.</p><p>Now, she was sitting at her dining room table surrounded by printouts to get a different look at the many projects she was filling her time with when she wasn’t wallowing in her anger and grief. At least it wasn’t the lab…but that only because cleaning protocols had kicked her out.</p><p>“Really Lena,” Lex shook his head, “I’m disappointed in you. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”</p><p>Lena sighed and pushed aside whatever it was she had been working on. “Paranoia never has been a good look on you,” she commented.</p><p>“It’s not paranoia if someone is actually out to get you,” he volleyed back. “Are you really going to let that alien menace cause you to work yourself into an early grave?” He nudged the bottle a little closer to her. “Or drink yourself into one, just like dear old dad.”</p><p>Lena grit her teeth. Kara was the root of the reason for her grief and anger, but the blonde wasn’t causing her to do anything. No, after their last talk (aside from when she had taken Kara the book) they hadn’t had any real contact. So no, this was all her doing. She simply didn’t know how to stop, so she continued.</p><p>Really, if anyone were to blame for her lack of healthy coping mechanisms, it would be her ‘loving family’. Most people might even take his words as those of a worried older sibling, but then they didn’t know her brother.</p><p>All of the enforced quiet and sullen drinking sessions had dulled her anger enough that her more logical side had a chance to rear its head above everything else. As unwilling as she had been to listen to anything Kara had had to say, some of it had penetrated. It helped that even with a rewritten world, she didn’t trust Lex as far as Kara could throw him.</p><p>“Touching, but that’s not why you’re here.” She stood and got herself a bottle of water from her fridge. She sipped at it, watching the man before her.</p><p>“Well, I did try to be nice about this.” He shrugged. “You’re shirking your duties on this little project of yours. Where are the results?”</p><p>“You’ve seen them, you know the project is a failure.” The human brain simply couldn’t be rewired, not like that. All she had managed to produce was a mind-control device. Even in her anger, Lena knew that was a Bad Thing.</p><p>“But so promising in other applications,” He mused, watching her just as closely as she was watching him. “Pity you cut the ties you did, they would have been useful in getting you to do what I wanted.” He held up a small control device.</p><p>Lena felt the blood freeze in her veins. He shouldn’t have had access to <em>any</em> of her projects. How had he bypassed…she shook her head. None of that mattered. She should have destroyed everything the moment she realized what she had actually created.</p><p>“I should thank your little friend Spheer for his work in nanites,” Lex mused. “They make the perfect delivery system, much better than the lenses.” He twirled the device.</p><p>“I won’t do whatever it is you have planned.” Lena set her water down. She had never thought of the nanites as a way to deliver Non-Nocere. Her goal had never been to take away free will (not really…maybe a little, but only in terms of being able to choose to hurt another person…and that was still bad), and it would be all too easy to…she wondered which bottle or food item it had been.</p><p>“Figured it out, have you?” Lex flipped the device a final time before pressing a button and watching as his sister’s body straightened up into perfect military parade rest. “You always were a clever one Ace. It’s a pity that you chose to use that cleverness outside the family.”</p><p>“I will fight you.” Lena grit out. Her brain was foggy and it was a struggle to keep any sort of control. She ignored her body, if she could keep him talking long enough she might just think of a way out of this. Depending on what he had planned, she might be able to use that against him.</p><p>“It’ll be amusing to watch you try,” Lex said in reply, a pleased smirk twisting his mouth into a snarl. He shook his head. “Poor Lena, overworked and tired, too much stress that she finally drank a little too much and got too close to the edge. Drink your scotch.”</p><p>Lena struggled, but it was useless as her hand unscrewed the lid and brought the bottle straight to her mouth. It burned going down. Of course he would get the terrible stuff when planning her apparent ‘accidental suicide’. He’d probably even used her card to buy it, the bastard.</p><p>The joke was on him. Even if her stomach was empty except for some water, this was the first bit of alcohol she had had in two days. She knew how to hold her liquor and a single bottle of whatever this was, was certainly…</p><p>She felt strange. What had he given her? She tried to pull the bottle away far enough to get a look at the label, but couldn’t do so. It burned as it settled into her stomach almost as if she had swallowed live coals.</p><p>Some of her control slipped as she remembered a long-ago conversation with Maggie about alien alcohol. Much of it was deadly to humans, either on its own or past a certain amount. If it didn’t kill the human outright, it would certainly get them drunk very quickly. Alex had said much the same, even teased Kara about being a ‘silly lightweight’.</p><p>Lena kind of wished she had taken up the Danvers’ sister's offer to take her to the alien bar before exposing herself. She might have been better prepared to fight the effects.</p><p>“That’s a good girl Ace.” Lex approached her and took the watch from where she kept it in her pocket. “Can’t have the overgrown girl scout being alerted, just in case.” He shook his head again. “So much misplaced trust, the both of you.”</p><p>Lex stepped away, going over to her balcony doors and opening them wide. “Now, I am going to leave you to your little ongoing pity party. Once you’ve finished your drink, you’re going to go off the balcony. I’ll be in my office, waiting to be shocked at the news of my poor little sister’s demise. You’ll do as you’re told, won’t you Ace?”</p><p>Lena felt herself nod jerkily, like one of those old 80’s cartoon robots. Her body gasped for air as it set the now empty bottle down. He had set another bottle in front of her. This time, she recognized the label.</p><p>Teeling had always been Lionel’s preferred brand. It had been her first sip, given to her at the age of ten during one of the man’s rare kind moods. She remembered him saying that <em>expensive</em> didn’t always mean <em>good</em>, that quality told more than price ever did.</p><p>“Do drink up. Father taught us never to waste a good drink.” He sneered at the bottle even as he watched Lena open it and begin drinking.</p><p><em>That’s right</em>, Lena thought even as this went down much smoother than the previous bottle, <em>Lex always hated it. He’d’ve thrown out all of Dad’s bottles except I got to them first.</em></p><p>Strange, what memories popped up when one was being mind-controlled to death.</p><p>Honestly, she was a little insulted that <em>this</em> was the best he had come up with to get rid of her before she could go to Kara or the DEO.</p><p>Lena’s brain fogged over and she knew no more.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Making up Begins Like This</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kara was out patrolling. She had already carefully checked on Lena, witnessing the woman sitting in her dining room working on paperwork. Unable to watch, she had gone to the other side of the city.</p><p>She still kept an ear out. She always did. Lex might not be sending out assassins anymore but others would still like to see Lena gone.</p><p>She had promised to keep Lena safe. Just because the other woman didn’t want her too didn’t negate that promise. No matter what, Kara would do her best.</p><p>Even at her worst, Lena was no villain. Not really.</p><p>A fight between two rival gangs (both a mix of aliens and humans), drew her attention and she went to defuse the situation. All was fine until someone pulled out a weapon and started firing on both gangs. After that, it was a mix of Supergirl, DEO agents, and NCPD officers trying to corral the violence.</p><p>Focused as she was on the current excitement, she almost missed the scream.</p><p>Kara froze, the scream registering in her ears. A microsecond later, she had shoved two gang members into the hands of whichever agent or officer was closest and she was in the air speeding towards Lena’s apartment. She ignored the confused shouts from Alex over the comms.</p><p>There wasn’t <em>time</em>. Lena was screaming and not using the watch.</p><p>Lena was falling.</p><p>The sight was unpleasantly familiar.</p><p>She slowed just enough to safely catch the falling woman. Lena’s eyes were wide and unfocused.</p><p>“Lex, nanites, scotch,” the words made little sense, but Kara took them to mean that Lena’s apartment was unsafe.</p><p>“I’ve got you.” She said, already turning towards the DEO as Lena began to convulse.</p><p>Thank Rao for Alex because her big sister didn’t hesitate when Kara brought the CEO in. She had a gurney brought up and Lena rushed to the Medbay. Fluids to flush out her system and anti-seizure medication was administered.</p><p>Brainy, of all people, recognized the signs of the alien alcohol overdose and knew how to treat it. The green tint that had been spreading over Lena’s skin slowly faded as the alcohol was flushed from her system and her stomach pumped.</p><p>An MRI, done after Lena’s heartrate had stabilized, showed the presence of dead nanites right before it died as well. That, one of the doctors explained, was from the opposing wavelengths between the two machines. He had seen it happen before, although most nanite tech had worked out that flaw in the design.</p><p>Lex’s plan, although full of missing details, became clear the next day when he announced Lena dead from overwork causing her to take a fatal fall. Kara punched a hole in a concrete slab when she heard it. Alex took advantage of that and hid Lena away in Kara’s apartment since Lex still maintained access to the DEO.</p><p>It was there that Lena woke up.</p><p>“I’m dead,” she croaked, staring up at a familiar ceiling she hadn’t seen in months. She was warm and safe, two things she hadn’t felt in forever.</p><p>“Over-dramatic much?” Alex leaned over her. “You’re not dead, but you almost were.” She held up three fingers. “How many?”</p><p>“Three, how?” She winched at the little penlight Alex used to check her pupil dilation.</p><p>“You screamed, Kara heard you and went to the rescue. You managed to say Lex, nanites, and scotch before passing out. We’re hiding you here because he’s still in and out of the DEO.” Alex did several more things before helping Lena sit up and giving her some water. “He’s declared you dead even without a body as proof. Brainy managed to use what you said to work out some of what’s been going on at LexCorp.”</p><p>Lena winched at the disproving look on Alex’s face.</p><p>“Mind-control Lena, really? You continued that even after what happened before Crisis?” She shook her head.</p><p>“Yes,” Lena admitted, “I know it was wrong, but in my pain, I didn’t care.” The only reason she wasn’t crying right now was that she didn’t have enough fluid in her body to produce tears.</p><p>Alex sighed. “Yea, we all could have handled that mess better.” She retook her chair. “So,” she crossed her arms, “do you want the bad news or the good news?”</p><p>“There’s good news?”</p><p>“Bad news first then,” Alex decreed. “Your stomach is a mess, as is your liver, esophagus, and throat from the Garticilite.”</p><p>“Is that what that was?” Lena mused, sipping at the water.</p><p>“Yes, and it was only the fact that you had water in your stomach that prevented it from completely eating you from the inside out. Something about the regular human scotch you drank on top of that helped as well, but we can only assume that the reason your brother isn’t torn up about there not being a body is that he didn’t expect there to be one. Garticilite is a lot like lye, works on the human body pretty much the same way.”</p><p>Lena’s stomach rolled. She remembered the burning sensation before blacking out. How had she even… “The failsafe.” She chuckled.</p><p>“Failsafe?”</p><p>“The reason Non-Nocere will never work is because,” she would laugh if she had the energy, “human self-preservation. I don’t remember screaming or anything after my body began drinking from the second bottle, but I wouldn’t, would I? It was all animal instinct at that point.”</p><p>“You got lucky, the MRI machine killed the nanites before it died in the backlash,” Alex informed her. “I take it the use of nanites was your brother’s idea?”</p><p>“Yes. Why the MRI?”</p><p>“Because we needed a closer look at your health.” Alex’s gaze turned stern again, but this was less angry and more concerned. “Lena, even with the tech we had on hand, you’re in for a long recovery. No more alcohol, a really bland diet for the next few weeks until we know the full extent of the damage. Some of it will be permanent. You’re on house arrest until further notice, with Kara as your keeper and I’ll be in and out. So will the others. We’re ready to talk whenever you are.”</p><p>“You’re ready to forgive me, just like that? <em>You</em>?” Lena slumped back into the pillows. “I must be dead.”</p><p>“No, but I’m also not going to continue this. For whatever reason, my sister loves you. She wants you around as part of our lives. Therefore, you get a single second chance with me. Blow it, and I find a hole not even Supergirl will be able to get you out of. Understood?”</p><p>Lena nodded. “Understood. Was that the good news?”</p><p>“A little,” Alex admitted with a shrug. “For now, you’re legally dead. That means that while you can’t go anywhere or really have access to anything, we’ve got a workstation set up for you. You get to help us take down Lex and Leviathan.”</p><p>“It would be my pleasure.”</p><p>They exchanged wicked smiles. “Excellent, Kara, you can come in now.”</p><p>“Lena!”</p><p>Lena found herself with an armful of Kryptonian puppy. Lack of fluid or not, tears stung her eyes. Kara’s hold was gentle, the blonde’s tears dampening her neck.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Lena said softly, barely registering Alex’s departure. “I’m so sorry Kara, for everything.”</p><p>“I am too, for so much.” Kara pulled back to look at her. “We nearly lost you.”</p><p>“How long was I unconscious?”</p><p>“Eight days, you woke up a little bit earlier and that’s when Alex removed some of the stuff,” Kara explained. “Us, Nia, Mom when she was here for…” Kara’s eyes filled with tears that she tried to fight back. She swallowed hard before continuing. “For your memorial service. We’ve been taking care of you.”</p><p>Lena felt her face heat. “After all that I’ve done…how? Why?”</p><p>“Because I always have and always will care about you Lena Luthor,” Kara said firmly, gently squeezing the other woman’s hand. “None of that was faked.” She shook her head. “We can talk about that later. Would you like a real bath?”</p><p>“Yes, please.” She needed the time to get herself under control. Kara was right. This was not the time to hash out their argument and subsequent feelings of betrayal. “A bath would be good, a shower even better.”</p><p>“I think we can manage that.” Kara smiled a little, beyond happy to see her friend alive.</p><p>They did manage a shower, even if Lena had to use the bathing chair someone had thought to get while she was unconscious. While she cleaned herself up and dressed in what had to be the fluffiest pair of pajamas ever created, Kara changed the sheets on the bed.</p><p>Someone, probably Alex, had come back and removed the rest of the machines. Kara had obtained more pillows from somewhere, several that she knew from her own bedroom.</p><p>“Where did all of this come from?” Lena stroked down the slick silk of the pillowcase. It was the same shade of blue as Kara’s eyes. The whole reason she had purchased the set.</p><p>“Alex and Vas broke into your apartment,” Kara admitted. “Mostly to look for clues and any information that might have been left there before it could be cleared out. They took whatever they thought wouldn’t be missed or that you might actually want.”</p><p>Lena chuckled. “I see.” She felt tears well up again. Apparently, she could do some good if she managed not to completely burn all the bridges.</p><p>“Hey,” Kara touched her shoulder, “everyone does things they wouldn’t normally do when angry. It’s not your fault Lex took advantage of that.”</p><p>“If I had just listened to your reasons, it might not have gotten that far.”</p><p>“If I had let you have space instead of just assuming we were alright, maybe you would have.” Kara countered. “We can go around and around with that, but it won’t solve anything. You just need to focus on getting better.”</p><p>“Have you been talking to Kelly?” Lena tried to tease gently. It certainly sounded like something the woman would say.</p><p>“No, Talia. She’s the person I’ve been seeing.” Kara admitted. “After…” she swallowed. “After Crisis and a visit from Myx, who I really should tell you about, I told Alex and J’onn that I needed help. She found us in the end, but she’s really good and kind.”</p><p>Lena nodded. “Maybe…maybe after this is over, I should find someone as well.”</p><p>Kara beamed at her. “If you want to, we can make that happen. Now,” she clapped her hands. “I have a whole bunch of jello flavors.  Which would you like first?”</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Here we Are</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lillian couldn’t believe she was about to do this. She honestly could not. It had taken hours to get rid of the men Lex had following her.</p><p>She could not allow her son’s actions to stand, and that was a thought she had never believed would cross her mind. He had gone too far and he had to be stopped.</p><p>Her feelings for Lena were varied and convoluted, but the girl had been her daughter. Lex had had no right to kill her. There were other methods, other ways.</p><p>She had seen the footage. She knew what Lex had done and how he had done it. She had watched as Lena had gone over the edge, but thankfully either none of the cameras had caught the landing or the alien rotgut had done its job before it had happened.</p><p>A bullet would have been cleaner, more befitting.</p><p>She really had focused on the wrong child.</p><p>Steeling herself, Lillian entered the apartment complex where Lena’s Kryptonian lived. It was a pity that the two had not been able to reconcile before, but she had warned the girl. It would make this overture easier if they had, but the weeping heart would agree in Lena’s memory if nothing else.</p><p>Knocking on the ordinary-looking door, Lillian pulled herself up. That Lex had forced her to this was demeaning. However, they had worked together once before to save Lena. They could do so again in order to avenge her.</p><p>The door cracked open, a familiar face glared at her.</p><p>“Mrs. Luthor.” Director Danvers greeted coldly. “What are you doing here.”</p><p>Lillian grit her teeth, trying to put on a sincere and non-threatening smile. “I’m here to offer my assistance. I’m certain this isn’t something you want to discuss in an open hallway.”</p><p>Kara Danvers face appeared above her sister’s. The blue eyes glared at her.</p><p>“She’s clean,” Kara announced. “Let me ask, and then you can let her in.” The woman disappeared. Lillian heard a murmur of voices, but they were too low for her human hearing to make out.</p><p>Alex stared the older woman down. Lillian met her gaze evenly.</p><p>This was humiliating, having to come to her enemies for assistance. At least the worse they would do would be to lock her away. She would escape eventually, but it was hardly worth it to even get angry over that obvious double-cross. The heroes were notorious for honoring their deals.</p><p>“Not a word,” Alex told her, closing the door in order to unchain it. Reopening it, she stepped aside to allow Lillian entrance.</p><p>Entering, Lillian took a look around the loft apartment. It was…quaint, she supposed. She could see what soft-hearted Lena might like about the place, despite her daughter’s own home being the usual Luthor ice palace.</p><p>“You said you wanted to help. Why?” Alex stood with her arms crossed, watching Lillian for any move that could be taken as hostile.</p><p>“My son has finally gone beyond anything reasonable. He must be stopped, and your little group is the one most likely capable of doing so.” Lillian set the briefcase down. “This is everything I could get, evidence of his connections with Leviathan, the human experiments, his involvement with Lena’s murder.”</p><p>“You know this puts a target on your back.” Alex didn’t move from her position.</p><p>“Don’t waste my time stating the obvious. I’m as good as dead already, given his paranoia.”</p><p>“I don’t know mother, perhaps he’s already using you.”</p><p>“Don’t be ridic-” Lillian lost her composure for a moment, taking in her daughter leaning against Supergirl. “Oh my girl, you’re <em>alive</em>.”</p><p>“Barely,” Lena muttered. “Kara?”</p><p>“I’ll get the meds,” Kara nodded, gently placing Lena back into the mountain of pillows taking over the couch.</p><p>“Meds?” Lillian questioned.</p><p>“Lex went for overkill and still failed.” Lena didn’t want to relax around Lillian, but she didn’t have much choice in the matter. One of the aftereffects of the Garticilite was that her abdominal muscles reacted poorly to being tense. Stress was never anyone’s friend, but it now caused her physical torment. Alex and Dr. Hamilton both assured her that most of it would fade as she healed.</p><p>Kara passed over a small pill and a can of flavored seltzer water. Lena took both with a grimace.</p><p>“I saw the video, but nothing was recorded of you being rescued by Supergirl.” Lillian was, admittedly, relieved to see Lena alive.</p><p>“Yea, the DEO scrubbed that footage as soon as we found it,” Alex admitted. “Lex had already declared her dead and we want to keep it that way for now. Not sorry about this.”</p><p>Lillian didn’t even get a chance to turn to see what the agent meant before she collapsed onto the floor unconscious.</p><p>“Localized EMP burst that mimics an MRI,” Alex explained. “She’s going to have a hell of a headache when she wakes up, but if there are any nanites in her system they’re now useless.” She nudged the briefcase. “Do we trust that?”</p><p>“No, but we should still open it.” Kara picked it up and scanned it. She blinked in surprise. It wasn’t lined in lead. “It’s…it’s what she said it was.”</p><p>“Okay, so either she’s actually being honest or Lex knows and wants us to know he knows because he doesn’t think we can actually do anything about it.” Alex took the briefcase and opened it after setting it onto the table. “Which do we think is more likely?”</p><p>“Not my brother’s MO,” Lena said after a few moments of thought. “I think as impossible as it may seem, she’s being a decent human being. It must be killing her.”</p><p>“Can we please not joke about death like that?” Kara asked softly.</p><p>Both women sobered.</p><p>“Right, bring the documents to me please Alex.” Lena held out her hands.</p><p>“Food first,” Alex admonished her.</p><p>“Can I at least have some salt and pepper on my eggs this time?”</p><p>“A little, yes. Kara, want to make our guest comfortable?”</p><p>“If I must,” Kara agreed with a sigh. With far more care than she thought Lillian Luthor warranted, she settled the older woman on the cot Alex had been crashing on whenever she was observing Lena overnight.</p><p>Lena ate slowly, savoring the second helping of solid food she’d had in a week. If she never had to eat jello again it would be far too soon. It also put off the nutrient shake Kara had pointedly placed beside her plate.</p><p>Alex snickered at her face until Kara set one down beside her as well.</p><p>“Why?” She poked it with her fork.</p><p>“Because you’re just as bad at remembering to eat as Lena is,” Kara replied.</p><p>“This is payback for all the times I made you drink one, isn’t it?” Alex was glancing around to see if there was anywhere she might be able to dispose of it without Kara noticing.</p><p>“No, it’s chocolate and I even added in some syrup to make it sweeter.”</p><p>“How is that an answer?” Alex questioned her, taking a reluctant sip of the concoction. Huh…actually it wasn’t that bad. It was certainly better than the ones at the DEO. She took a larger drink.</p><p>“Chocolate makes everything better,” Kara replied, settling down with her second plate. “Even vegetables.”</p><p>Alex paused mid drink. She glanced at the cup on Lena’s tray. It was decidedly green, light enough that enough chocolate syrup would both hide the taste and not be discolored.</p><p>She set her half-drunk cup down. “Kara,” she said slowly, “what’s in this?”</p><p>“Not telling,” Kara responded, sticking her tongue out at her sister. “It’s good for you, and Lena likes it.”</p><p>“Leave me out of this,” Lena sat back, sipping at her own shake. Kara was getting better at making them. The chalky taste was gone, although hers was certainly not as sweet as Alex’s.</p><p>Alex grumbled but did as her sister bid. She would let her get away with it this time.</p><p>Lillian began to regain consciousness just as they finished eating and had begun going through the briefcase.</p><p>“Was that truly necessary?” She asked as she glared at the elder Danvers sister.</p><p>Alex shrugged. “Maybe not, but none of us trust Lex or you as far as Kara can throw either of you.”</p><p>Lillian conceded that they did have a point with that argument. Her mind did wonder for a brief moment just how far a Kryptonian could throw a human body, but wisely did not voice the question. She had no desire to be a test subject to find out.</p><p>Instead, she settled into one of the armchairs and watched them examine the information she had brought with her. Lena was already on a laptop with the flash drive. The sisters were organizing the printouts into some kind of order that escaped her at the moment.</p><p>“That…” Kara said something that had a parent heard it they would have washed her mouth out.</p><p>Lena and Alex openly gaped at her; Kara didn’t curse. They both knew the blonde knew the words, she just refrained from using them. Lillian merely raised an eyebrow, mildly amused that she was the indirect cause of such an occurrence.</p><p>“English Kara,” Alex finally got out. “What did you find?”</p><p>Kara just managed to set the paper down with minimal damage. “Myriad,” which they already knew, “but on a scale that will bring Earth to destruction.”</p><p>“What?” Lena paled. She had done as much as she’d been able in order to get Non-Nocere scrapped. Not only would it not work as intended, but it opened very dangerous doors that were much better left closed. It was a mistake, one that she desperately wished she had never thought of.</p><p>“Explain,” Alex demanded, reaching for her phone to call J’onn.</p><p>“If he succeeds, Lex will bring exactly the kind of danger he fears. There are Intergalactic Laws being broken with these plans, Laws that won’t just bring a Lantern or even a whole platoon of them, but whole fleets to either gain control of the technology or wipe out the planet.”</p><p>Kara shook where she stood. As powerful as she was, as her cousin and their friends were, they would fail. She would lose another planet, another family, that she loved.</p><p>“So we destroy it,” Lena said firmly, “all of it.” She swallowed. “If…if possible, we find a way to wipe it from memory.”</p><p>“Agreed,” Lillian spoke, agreeing with her daughter for one of the few times in their lives. “Oh don’t look so shocked,” she told them at the looks they sent her way. “I may have similar concerns as my son, but I would not risk the entirety of humanity just to get rid of a handful of undesirables.”</p><p>Lena scrutinized her mother. She had very little trust or affection for the woman who had made her childhood practically loveless and cold, but the woman in front of her now just looked tired. Defeated.</p><p>This was a Lillian, Lena thought, that had just reached the understanding of just what kind of monster she had raised. It was startling to see, a crack in the woman’s stoic façade that Lena had never before witnessed.</p><p>“I think she actually means it,” she said slowly, not entirely certain if she really believed Lillian was being truthful or if Lena was seeing what she wanted to see.</p><p>“Right,” Alex nodded. “Kara, Lena, gather that up and summarize it.” She pulled a pair of handcuffs from somewhere, “Lillian, you are coming with me.”</p><p>“Really Director Danvers?” Lillian raised an eyebrow.</p><p>“You are going to assist in leading Lex on a wild goose chase while they,” she nodded to the pair already at work, “narrow everything down.” She turned to Lena. “I still don’t trust you, but we’re going to need your form of chaos. Just don’t do anything stupid.” She glared at her sister. “That goes for both of you.”</p><p>“And you,” Kara retorted. “You aren’t allowed to die.”</p><p>“Not planning on it.”</p><hr/><p>It had taken a week and several more nerve-wracking hours, but they got there.</p><p>Kara, Alex, and the rest of National City’s heroes were out taking care of Lex’s minions and freeing the unwilling from his control. Lillian was currently freeing Brainy and wiping out the servers of LexCorp and all of Lex’s hidden bunkers.</p><p>She had found them once. They really hadn’t been all that difficult to find again in this new universe.</p><p>Andrea, in a surprise twist (and with the assurance from Lillian that she could fix Russell), had become their ally. She was currently taking out Lex’s supporters from Leviathan alongside DEO agents that had defected with Alex and J’onn.</p><p>Lena, gun in hand, found herself in a very familiar situation with Lex.</p><p>“I’m almost disappointed Lena, didn’t we already do this?” Lex had been shocked to see her alive, but that had faded quickly when he saw the gun in her hand. “Are you really going to kill me again?”</p><p>“I want to,” Lena admitted, “you certainly deserve it.”</p><p>“And you don’t?” He eyed her. “It was your original research that led us here. All that useless pain you poured into trying to ‘fix’ humanity.” He sneered. “Humanity can’t be fixed Ace.”</p><p>“Maybe not,” Lena agreed, “but you are insane.” She raised the gun. She was tempted to shoot him just to shut him up.</p><p>“Could you really do it Ace? Kill your own brother, again?” He laughed at her. “Over a girl who lied to you for years, laughing at your obliviousness behind your back.”</p><p>“You don’t know Kara at all,” Lena replied, “or me.” She pulled the trigger.</p><p>Lex went down clutching his ruined knee. “Torture Ace? How low.”</p><p>“Low is trying to stage my suicide,” Lena walked over to him, knelt down, pulled her fist back, and punched him. “Low is using my own emotions to manipulate me, make me believe that you <em>ever</em> cared for me.” She straightened up, ignoring the blood now on her clothing.</p><p>With more calm than she actually felt, she raised the gun again. This time, there would be no coming back from the dead for him. If she was going to have to face the consequences of her actions, then she was at least going to ensure he was gone.</p><p>A shot rang out, but not from her gun. Lena turned, surprised, to find herself facing Alex. Lex’s blank face stared at them, the bullet hole between his eyes beginning to drip blood as his body caught up with the fact he was dead.</p><p>“Kara told me,” Alex said in place of a greeting, “you shouldn’t have to carry that guilt again.” She reached over and took the gun from Lena’s hand, tucking it into a spare holster on her leg. “Come on,” she wrapped an arm around the shorter woman, “I’ll call it in.”</p><p>“Alex…why?” Lena said once they were out of the room and her brain had caught up with what had just happened.</p><p>“If anyone asks, revenge for my father,” she replied.</p><p>Lena could understand that. Revenge for Jerimiah Danvers, protecting Kara, there were many reasons why Alex would want to be the one to take the final shot. Why spare her the guilt then?</p><p>Alex sighed, ending the call to report Lex’s demise. “Look, I’m not the best with sharing my feelings. Kara and Kelly being the exceptions.” Lena nodded. “But I failed as your friend in more than one way, and not just for lying and refusing to let Kara tell you anything. Which as her older sister I don’t regret, just so we’re clear.”</p><p>“I understand,” and in some way she did.</p><p>“As <em>your</em> older sister, it means I failed to protect you from pain that I could have. So,” Alex shrugged, “this is me trying to do better.”</p><p>“By becoming my new sibling?” Lena asked slowly, uncertain if she actually understood anything.</p><p>“Basically,” Alex took her hand to tug her towards the entry, moving them past the cleanup team that had arrived. “Someone needs to look after you.”</p><p>Lena had nothing to say. She let Alex lead her away from the site of Lex’s final demise. Eventually, they ended up back in Kara’s apartment.</p><hr/><p>They all eventually ended up in Kara’s apartment. Couples were curled up together, singles sprawled out in whatever open space they could find in their exhaustion. Lena found herself ensconced in Kara’s arms, a place she was happy to be.</p><p>Lillian was back in jail, leaving Lena to take control of the family business once again. Every scrap of information about Myriad and Non-Nocere was gone. J’onn had left only enough information in her mind to know it was gone and the world was better for it. Lillian, to everyone’s surprise, had submitted to having everything wiped. She had something to J’onn about the reason why, but he wouldn’t say what it was. Lena wasn’t certain that she wanted to know.</p><p>She was officially alive again. Someone had come up with an elaborate story on what had happened. Lena had just smiled and nodded along, agreeing that an official statement would be forthcoming.</p><p>Leviathan had been defeated. Between Supergirl and Acrata the National City base had been razed to the ground.</p><p>Andrea was at the DEO with Russell. He was recovering well. Lillian had fulfilled that promise, removing the excess tech and mind-control elements.</p><p>The city had calmed in the aftermath, clean up already beginning. The actual battles had been well contained, so it was not as bad as it could have been. None of Lex’s bombs had gone off. The nanites those bombs had contained had been neutralized.</p><p>“We should get food,” M’gann spoke into the quiet. “We all fought well today.”</p><p>“I don’t think any of us are ready to move just yet,” Kelly told her. She certainly wasn’t. She was perfectly content if she didn’t have to move from where she and Alex were sprawled out on Kara’s couch.</p><p>“Pizza?” Nia suggested, reaching for her phone. “I think Jose’s is still delivering.”</p><p>“Pizza’s good,” was the general consensus.</p><p>“Don’t forget the potstickers,” Kara added, “and we need ice cream.”</p><p>“Can do, money?”</p><p>With groans, they all moved just enough to pull out their phones to transfer money to Nia to pay for everything.</p><p>“It’s really over,” Lena murmured.</p><p>“It is,” Kara agreed in the same soft tone. “Now we can heal and rebuild, right?”</p><p>Lena nodded, sinking further into Kara. “Now we heal and rebuild.”</p>
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